Martin Myers, M.D., Ph.D.

Leptin is an important signaling hormone produced by fat cells. It regulates appetite and how cells convert food into energy. Leptin's signals also help insulin control blood sugar levels to prevent diabetes.

When the amount of energy stored in fat cells reaches a certain level, leptin triggers a receptor in the brain's hypothalamus, which causes the brain to turn off appetite. Some people become clinically obese, and often develop diabetes, because a malfunction somewhere in the complex leptin signaling pathway prevents the brain from sending its "stop eating" signal.

Martin Myers, M.D., Ph.D. , an assistant professor in the U-M Medical School and a U-M Biological Sciences Scholar, is trying to understand exactly how leptin communicates with the brain through a complicated chain of protein signals. He has developed special strains of laboratory mice with genetic mutations to study in his research. One strain is missing genes for leptin's receptor in the hypothalamus and can't receive leptin's signal. Other strains are unusually sensitive to leptin. Myers hopes that his mutant mice will help unlock leptin's secrets and provide important information about the causes of obesity and diabetes.

Learn more about this work at the Martin Myers Lab